Especially a thick slice of cold chocolate cake straight from the fridge, layered with chocolate frosting or ganache...The kind of chocolate cake dreams are made of. I always thought good, moist chocolate fudge cake required oil. I was wrong...

Believe it or not, this dense and moist chocolate layer cake involves no oil at all. It's vegan, gluten free, naturally sweetened and thoroughly awesome. So awesome in fact that I ate it for breakfast two days in a row. I know what you're thinking -- but wipe that look of disgust off your face! This chocolate cake is pretty innocent...

Sweetened with dark vegan chocolate chips, apple sauce, banana and maple syrup this cake is not the enemy -- it's your delicious new best friend. The frosting should also be celebrated since its basically just fresh dates and dark chocolate...

You'd never guess that this cake was oil free because it is very moist, very rich and very dense. The frosting is sweet, creamy and chocolatey. Talk about a winning combination! I could get lost in those layers...

My favorite part is how easy this chocolate cake is to prepare. The cake mix comes together in minutes in your food processor and the icing whizzes up in seconds in a blender. Blend, pour, bake, cool, frost and hello chocolate heaven.

I wonder if you're still reading this post...

Maybe you're licking your screen...

Don't just stand there -- let's get to it. Grab your blender, there's nothing to it!

OIL FREE CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

Preheat oven to 375F.

Melted Chocolate:

1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/3 cup non dairy milk

Melt chocolate and non-dairy milk together over lowest heat in a pot until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Dry Ingredients:

Add all wet ingredients to the food processor mixture and blend until smooth and well mixed. Once smooth pulse in:

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into a parchment paper lined square baking
pan. You could also use two identical size small cake pans. Bake in oven until risen and slightly springy to the touch - about 20
minutes. I used a square pan so to make my cake a small layer cake I let it cool to room temperature and then cut the cake down the middle to create two layers.

Healthier Chocolate Frosting

2/3 cup + 1/3 cup pitted dates (divided)

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup non dairy milk

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

1 tsp arrowroot starch

1 tsp vanilla extract

Tiny pinch of salt

Puree 2/3 cup dates with 2/3 cup water in a high speed blender until smooth.

In a small pot over low heat, melt together the chocolate chips, non dairy milk and arrowroot starch. Add melted chocolate and all remaining ingredients to the blended date mixture and puree until smooth. Chill for an hour in the fridge before using as frosting.